New Therapies May Provide an Alternative to Surgery for Patients with BCG-Unresponsive Bladder Cancer

BCG-unresponsive bladder cancer is currently most effectively treated by surgical intervention via partial or full cystectomy. Fortunately, this situation may be about to change due to the emergence of immunotherapeutic and checkpoint inhibitor drugs as potential second-line therapies when initial BCG treatment fails. Much still needs to be learned about these novel treatments in order to optimize the balance between risks and overall benefit to patients going forward.